Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,740,000 shares, a growth of 15.1% from the October 31st total of 2,380,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,100,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Approximately 2.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Crown from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Crown from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Truist Financial increased their target price on Crown from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Crown from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Crown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.00, for a total transaction of $697,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 571,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,119,554. This trade represents a 1.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James H. Miller sold 1,006 shares of Crown stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.60, for a total value of $96,173.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,424 shares in the company, valued at $1,187,734.40. This trade represents a 7.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,506 shares of company stock valued at $3,157,399 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CCK. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Crown by 4.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 249,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,295 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Crown by 139.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 122,380 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,104,000 after buying an additional 71,227 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Crown by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 100,918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,676,000 after buying an additional 7,280 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Crown by 22.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 198,984 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,772,000 after acquiring an additional 36,895 shares during the period. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in Crown by 62.0% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 23,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,722,000 after acquiring an additional 8,857 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CCK traded down $0.93 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $92.09. The stock had a trading volume of 420,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,093,787. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.13. Crown has a 12 month low of $69.61 and a 12 month high of $98.46. The company has a market cap of $11.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 113.69, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.85.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The industrial products company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.18. Crown had a net margin of 0.83% and a return on equity of 24.57%. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Crown will post 6.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Crown’s payout ratio is 123.46%.

About Crown

Crown Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the packaging business in the United States and internationally. It operates through Americas Beverage, European Beverage, Asia Pacific, and Transit Packaging segments. The company manufactures and sells recyclable aluminum beverage cans and ends, glass bottles, steel crowns, aluminum caps, non-beverage cans, and aerosol cans and closures.